1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates, in general, to containers with caps and, more particularly, to containers having separate compartments in which at least two materials may be stored separately and then may be combined when it is desired to mix them.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many drugs, dyes, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, nutrients, herbs, flavorings, and other chemicals are frequently supplied in powder, granule, tablet, or crystal form and do not retain their stability, strength and effectiveness for long after they have been mixed in solution or suspension, a condition frequently necessary for their administration or other use. It is also important that admixtures of various chemicals be done under conditions wherein a measured amount of one chemical be added to a measured amount of the other chemical to insure that proper results are obtained with a minimum of waste.
For example, some vitamins are combined with an effervescent agent and added to liquid immediately prior to use in order to retain the effectiveness of the vitamins. If the vitamins were mixed with liquid and were not consumed within a short period of time, the vitamins would deteriorate and would be less effective after an extended storage period.
There are many other examples of materials or substances which have an extended shelf life when not mixed, but which must be utilized relatively soon after mixture to prevent deterioration. Various cosmetics, medications, hair dyes, pigments, epoxy adhesives, polishes, cleansing solutions and the like have the foregoing characteristics. For example, conventional hair dyes employ a base material with which a pigmented material or solution is mixed for immediate application on the hair. If the pigmented material is mixed with the base and allowed to stand, the mixture may rapidly deteriorate and thus become unusable.
Many products are, by their very nature, required to be used by the consumer shortly after their manufacture as they lose certain desirable characteristics within a short period of time. Yet, the product can be stored for extended periods of time if a reactive compound thereof is maintained separate from the base compound. In such case, the two compounds may be mixed together to form the desired product shortly before use. In marketing such goods, it is desirable that the reactive compound and the base compound be sold as part of the same package. From an aesthetic as well as a handling standpoint, it is desirable that a single package be utilized for maintaining such compounds separately.
For example, in the chemical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries it is often necessary to separately store two products which are not to be mixed until just before the resulting mixture is to be used because the properties of that mixture are not acceptable for the application envisaged except at the moment at which the mixture is formed. The stability of the mixture, for example, is a property which may vary in the course of time and may therefore have values which are most efficacious at the time the mixture is formed.
Another important field of use for containers of this type lies in the storage of foodstuffs and particularly beverages. Thus, a new flavoring, nutrient, additive, etc. constituted of dry ingredients, and being in the form of granular material, or a powder may have been developed for carbonated beverages which has significant potential consumer appeal in comparison with existing products, with the beverage, however, having a limited shelf life after the flavoring, nutrient, additive, etc., is mixed with the liquid or carbonated water present in the container. The additive has a lengthier shelf life when maintained in a dry condition and separate from the water or liquid, and with the product being more flavorful, nutritious, effective, etc. and marketable when stored in a container which maintains the additive and liquid in separate compartments and inaccessible to each other until opening of the container for the purpose of dispensing the beverage.
Many different types of packages have been designed having two compartments to enable product components to be kept separate until use. However, prior devices have required many moving parts that required connection, or they required the user to take several actions to combine the ingredients and then use the mixture, such as pushing down on a pushbutton in order to initiate the mixing of the ingredients, and then opening of a cap. Furthermore, if a seal was previously used, it may have required puncturing of the seal, which could become detached, be not fully punctured, or otherwise hinder the flow of reactants.
Furthermore, the types of structures used for many prior two-compartment containers are complicated and often subject to higher manufacture costs and additional assembly time. Many prior art containers have required a high degree of manufacturing accuracy in order to work as intended. For example, in series production of plastic objects at industrial levels, it can be difficult to obtain consistently accurate results which would guarantee a constantly correct and desired connection between elements requiring a high degree of manufacturing accuracy, such as for a cutting element and a frangible seal.
Further, some prior packages provide that the compartment stays in the mouth of the container even after a closure device or cap has been extracted and the separately stored materials have been mixed, which represents an obstacle which can interfere with the pouring-out or use of the mixture.
Further, some prior packages would not work well if it is important that the contents of the container are kept dry. One prior art package describes a plug that would fit into a dispenser opening and prevent the dry contents of the compartment from mixing with the liquid contents of the container. However, the plug is located in the center of the bottle neck, and during the bottling process when liquid is poured into the container, the plug itself would get wet and would then contaminate the contents of the compartment.
Thus, there remains a need to have two-compartment packages which keep the components separate until just before use, which allow the two components to be easily mixed together, and which are simple to manufacture and assemble.